Piecing Together Community Through Creative Reuse

Can a retail store operate solely on donations from the community? The answer is yes, and ReCraft is doing it! I remember visiting ReCraft last summer as a volunteer and was amazed by the amount and variety of materials in the store. I vividly remember helping organize fabric and enjoying the welcoming environment of the store. I was curious to learn more about how ReCraft operates, and this fellowship allowed me to explore just that.

My name is Jackie Alvarado, and I am a rising junior from Godwin, North Carolina. I am a Sustainability Science Major with minors in Visual Strategy and Data Analytics. This summer I am the Sustainable Experiences Fellow at ReCraft Creative Reuse Center. It has been a wonderful experience working at ReCraft, as I value and support their mission of creativity and sustainability.

At ReCraft, I assist in the Makerspace, which is where families can craft using materials that are 100% donated! I manage the space, give instructions, and answer questions. I enjoy being in this space because I love seeing others being creative and having fun. Beyond this, I also shadow departments within the nonprofit. Some days, I spend time with donations to understand the processes, other days with volunteers, and then operations, where I learn more about the store’s “backstage.”

Currently, I am working on my project, which is aligned with my minor in data analytics. I am analyzing volunteer data from 2022 to 2025 to explore the question: How can we develop and retain long-term volunteers? Apart from this project, I am also practicing design thinking skills to develop solutions for ReCraft’s excess scrap fabric. Right now, I am working on creating a Blue Ridge Mountain themed wall made of fabric scraps and researching textile recycling options for ReCraft.

I am learning so much through this fellowship, from technical skills like data analysis to organizational knowledge about nonprofit management, and creative problem-solving through design thinking. Learning the ins and outs of a creative reuse center has inspired me to one day create my own business centered on reuse and creativity. I also learned how to sew at a staff workshop and recently picked up scrap journaling as a new hobby! I have enjoyed being part of ReCraft’s dedicated community and seeing the real-world impact of circular economy practices through donations, reuse, and volunteers.

If you are looking for a place to buy craft supplies, shop sustainably, or start a new creative hobby, visit ReCraft! If you are looking for somewhere to volunteer and give back, also visit Recraft! For more information about Recraft, go to https://www.recraftgvl.org/ and follow them on Instagram @recraftgvl.